You know it's been a terrible winter when Chicago politicians are pushed to work... on something useful. Beleaguered by tens of thousands of potholes, city officials in Chicago recently started tracking pothole fixes- online.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel last week announced the City’s new “Pothole Tracker”, which allows Chicagoans to monitor a week’s worth of pothole patching activity by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT).

“The City of Chicago is filling thousands of potholes every day in response to resident requests for service,” Mayor Emanuel said. “This new website tool allows residents to track the patching work in their neighborhoods and across Chicago.”

Filling the pot holes does not work for long! I had a Latin teacher every spring she would be a little late for class and always would say "The Romans could build a road that would last centuries and we can't build one to last a year!

The roads around Indianapolis are in bad shape, too. There is a road on the near South side that you could use for the Moon or Mar lander proving grounds (some of the roads are gone). Try hitting these at 40 miles per hour and I will guarantee that at a minimum the car will need alignment..All cities are seeing the same thing, the winter is one of the hardest on record in the lower 48 states. Alaska had a rather mild winter, do to the El Nino or La Nina force on the oceans. Imagine just four degrees of difference can cause drought in California and mudslides in Washington. Pot holes are bad, they are caused by the weather. Water freezing and warming cause a hydraulic effect on the roads. We need to evaluate a better solution than patching every year. It seems the only people making money on this are the Asphalt Makers. Then, for all of you coming to the "500" in a few weeks, the roads are great around and near the track. But, go anywhere else and the roads other than the Interstate are rough. The South I-65 and I-465 intersection is a horror story.Be careful, drive sober and aware, the life you save may be your own. js

Chicago isn't the only area that has been hit with an unusual amount of pot holes, milwaukee and waukesha have been hit with a lot of the same problems. Even some roads rising and splitting. The winter was hard on all of us, and now it will cost all of us, especially those who don't watch the roads. A number of drivers have had a lot of front end and tire repairs, it pays to watch the road if you can't pay for the damage that the roads are doing to our vehicles!

Gives state's reason or authority to raise gas prices. Instead of just using a better asphalt product. Baltimore City has constant potholes on the same roads that are being worked on all year round. But you never see anybody out working. News awhile back, using inferior asphalt.